| The picture below shows larger front and back views of the (3) Small Old Cracker Jack Pop Corn Confection Miniature Pot Metal & Celluloid Toy Prize Ladies Purses in this lot. These prizes are not dated but they are believed to be from the 1910s to the 1930s. Each of these has a red color celluloid insert. These inserts are often missing. One has a design on each side, and the other two have goose or geese. They are marked “JAPAN” but the maker is unknown. The purse on the right (bottom image) is missing one small side piece on the left bottom. Many of the early pot metal or lead prizes were manufactured by Dowst (Samuel Dowst), or the Tootsietoy Company of Chicago, Illinois, but there were other companies in the United States, and including ones from Japan and Germany prior to World War II as well. Some of these type prizes were made specifically for Cracker Jack, while others were made as small novelties, bought in volume, and used as prizes by The Cracker Jack Company. Pot metal or lead prizes were some of the earliest prizes that were used in Cracker Jack boxes from the 1910s to the late 1940s. Many of these type prizes or novelties were also sold out of old Johnson Smith & Company catalog as well as some other early novelty catalogs, also used in fortune telling sets, and some were also sold and used as board game parts. Many of these can be found factory painted, inked, or with no finish at all. All three of these for one price! Each of these purses measure about 13/16'' x 7/8'' x 1/4''. They appear to be in excellent or better condition with the exception of the one missing goose as pictured. |
